After the first successful meet-up with Lily, Rory and Logan spent a few more afternoons together so Logan and Lily could become a little bit more acquainted with each other.

Logan had been worried that it would be hard for them to find a way to bond but Lily was the most agreeable little girl who took to him like a duck to water and it wasn't surprising that she had stolen his heart away almost immediately. In addition, he also felt like he could be on the way to repairing his fractured relationship with Rory. He didn't think that he would ever fully understand her reasons for doing what she did but he had accepted that in order to move forward with their lives he had to try and let it go, however hard that was for him. There were still times when Logan felt unbelievable pain about the whole situation – not just on missing out on the time that he could have had with Lily but down to the fact that Rory, who he had once loved so deeply, just hadn't felt able to turn to him.

Rory immensely enjoyed seeing Logan and Lily together. She'd had so many concerns about Logan being a part-time father and while it was extremely early days and she didn't want to get her hopes up at all, so far everything was going well and he'd been completely reliable. She could tell by watching him with Lily that Logan loved her already and it made her heart swell. He'd spent a fair amount of time over the past few weeks at the pool house and she was just about adjusting to having him around. It was on one such afternoon that the conversation that Rory had been waiting for, and also dreading, reared its ugly head.

Logan arrived at the pool house and knocked at the door before entering. He greeted Rory with a smile and picked up Lily who was crawling her away over to him and he planted a big kiss on the top of her head. He looked over at Rory nervously.

"Hey Logan, I wasn't expecting you today was I…." Rory trailed off when she looked at his face. "Oh no. I know that look Huntzberger. What is it?"

Logan forgot just how well Rory knew him. She could always tell when he was about to be the bearer of bad news.

"Come on, spit it out." she said, hand on her hip.

"So, I am having dinner with my parents tonight…"

Rory groaned. She knew exactly where the conversation was headed.

"…and I am going to tell them tonight. About Lily."

"Okay…" Rory said slowly.

"I was kind of hoping you would come with me…." Logan said with a little smile.

Rory looked at him aghast. "What?! No way!"

"Please!" Logan begged, "I really want them to meet Lily, I think it will make the whole thing easier."

"Easier for who? You? It won't be easier for me!" Rory groaned.

"Easier all round. They're going to find it difficult to see the bad in any of this once this gorgeous little creature dazzles them." He said bouncing Lily up and down.

Rory pouted. She knew that Logan was right, and she knew that she owed him big time. He'd been more than reasonable about the whole situation over the past few weeks and if she was honest with herself, she knew that this shouldn't even be something they were having to deal with right now so the least she could do was support him.

"Fine." She said. "I'll come. But let it be put on the record, I am not happy about this" she said wagging her finger at Logan.

"Great. I'll come pick you up later" he smiled.

"Well that seems silly Logan, you're living there so it will be a bit weird for you to come here and get me won't it? It's not a date," she said laughing "I'll just meet you there."

"Are you sure?" Logan said with a raised eyebrow.

"Absolutely"

A few hours later and Rory was really regretting telling Logan she'd meet him at his parents, in fact, she was regretting the whole thing altogether! As she approached the driveway of the Huntzberger estate the nerves had started to kick in.

"I hope you're ready for this Lily," She said looking in her rear view mirror at her daughter "And remember, whatever happens, they're your family, not mine kid. You're stuck with them" she sighed.

She pulled the car up outside the entrance and the front door immediately swung open.

"Waiting for someone?" she smiled at Logan as he walked over to her. "Oh boy, do you look nervous. So…how do you want to do this" Rory said as she unclipped Lily out of the car seat. She had put Lily in her absolute best dress for the occasion and was so grateful that she hadn't spit up on it during the short journey there.

"I have no idea" Logan admitted. "I don't know whether I should go in first, or we should just walk into together. No, maybe I should take Lily in. Although that might spook them. Maybe you should wait here, actually…."

Rory put her hand up to stop Logan "Enough! I'm the rambler out of the two of us. You need to calm down." She said as she put her hand on his arm gently, an affectionate touch which didn't go unnoticed by Logan. In the past few weeks, they'd barely touched at all. "Why don't we just go in together and get it over and done with, like ripping a band-aid off. Only it's bound to be a lot less pleasant than that…."

Logan smiled at Rory who had a snuggly Lily resting on her shoulder. This was going to be so much easier with them both on the same team. They'd always had each other's back.

"Okay. Let's do it." He said as he slipped his hand into Rory's free hand. It was a natural protective instinct, a united front. and while this small act took Rory by surprise, she was grateful for the feeling of familiarly and comfort at that moment.

Rory and Logan walked into the dining room where Mitchum and Shira were already seated at the table.

"Well, it's about time Logan…" Shira stopped talking suddenly when she saw who her son was with. "Mitchum…." She whispered to alert him to their presence. "MITCHUM!" she repeated louder when he didn't look up from his newspaper.

Mitchum raised his head and they looked at their son stood with Rory and then to the little girl that was busy twirling Rory's hair around with her fingers.

"Logan what is going on here…" Mitchum asked slowly.

"Mom, Dad…there isn't really an easy way to tell you this so I'm just going to come right out with it. This…" he said gesturing to the little girl in Rory's arms "…is Lily. My daughter." He said firmly. "Well, our daughter I mean," he said smiling at Rory.

"I…I don't understand," Shira said clutching her hand to her chest. "Your daughter? What do you mean? How can you have a daughter Logan? That's not possible. No, I don't believe it."

"Oh, it is possible, so you had better start believing it," Logan said. Lily was fidgeting in Rory's arms and reaching out for him so he took hold of her and walked over to sit down at the dining table, signalling for Rory to join him. She nervously sat down next to him.

"I don't really know what to say, Logan," Mitchum said. "Why have you not told us before now?"

Rory bit her lip nervously and looked down at the table. This was not a conversation she wanted to be having. She looked at Logan and gently shook her head, using her sparkling blue eyes to apologize once again.

"Because I only just found out myself," Logan said.

Rory closed her eyes and waited for the fallout that was sure to come.

Shira jumped up from the table. "WHAT!" she yelled. "What do you mean you have only just found out! This child….is what? A year old?"

"She's nine months old," Logan told his mother.

"Shira, sit down" Mitchum barked at her. Shira looked at her husband, her cheeks reddening. Of all the things she despised, being scolded by her husband in front of people was one of the things she hated the most. Embarrassed, she took her seat back at the table.

Logan looked at Rory before he started talking to his parents and mouthed an "I'm sorry" to her. He knew that by telling his parents exactly what had happened he was basically hand-feeding her to the wolves but he was conscious that he was currently trying to rebuild a relationship with his parents again and for that reason he needed, to be honest. He took a deep breath.

"Rory found out she was pregnant after I had moved to California. We were no longer in contact. She had her reasons for not telling me which we've discussed and I think that should remain between us. I found out about Lily a couple of weeks ago when I first moved back here and since then we've been spending some time getting to know each other" he said as he gently stroked the top of his daughters head and soft blonde curls. "That's the short version anyhow."

For a few moments, nobody said anything.

"This explains your sudden disappearance from society," Shira said directly to Rory, picking up her wine glass and taking a sip, "Everybody thought you were off working somewhere, chasing a career but seemingly you were just hiding out?"

"I wasn't hiding," Rory said finding her voice. "I've been living right in here in Hartford with my grandparents the whole time."

Shira looked at Rory "Emily never said a word, she never even mentioned you were pregnant."

Rory shrugged "Why would she? As much as she loves Lily, I'm sure that she wasn't exactly bursting with pride that her granddaughter was about to be a single mother but then it also wasn't really anybody else's business." She said uncomfortably.

"Are you two together?" Mitchum asked.

Logan shook his head. "No. You know we've not been together since Rory's graduation but that makes no real difference. I am going to take care of my daughter whatever."

Mitchum nodded. "It's the right thing to do. And of course, we will help."

Logan looked at his father with a raised eyebrow.

"Don't look at me like that Logan, sometimes I don't know you take me for." Mitchum said "She's your daughter, so she's family and we look after our family. The first thing we should do is make sure you both have somewhere appropriate to live." Mitchum said looking at Rory.

"Oh no!" Rory said shaking her head, a little bit stunned. "I mean, thank you, but I'm absolutely fine where I am. The pool house is more than enough for us."

"You plan on living with Emily and Richard forever?" Mitchum asked with a smirk. "I'm not sure how I feel about my grandchild living in a pool house."

"No, it may not be ideal, but I'll sort it out on my own. I don't want your money," she said firmly.

"Fair enough" Mitchum nodded his head "but the offer stands".

Logan looked at Rory and smiled. He knew that as she hadn't been able to work yet, she had no money and her living situation was far from ideal but he also knew how independent she was. There was no way on earth she would have accepted an offer from Mitchum. He had been surprised at his father even offering, but Logan had his own ideas and knew that it was his responsibility to provide for Lily.

"Logan….may I…I mean can I hold her?" Shira stumbled over her words. It had been a shock learning about Rory and Lily but Shira, whatever her personal opinions, couldn't neglect that fact this was her granddaughter.

Logan turned to Rory to make sure she was okay with him handing over Lily. He had only been in their lives for a few weeks and he wasn't anywhere near comfortable calling the shots when it came to their daughter. Rory nodded and Logan and his mother stood up and walked over to the living area where Shira sat down and Logan placed Lily on her lap.

Despite Shira's initial shock, she couldn't help but smile at the little blue-eyed darling in front of her. Lily, as always, was working her charm. It seemed not everyone was intimidated by Mitchum and Shira, Rory thought to herself as Shira cooed at Lily and Lily rewarded her with a cute giggle.

"Oh Logan, she's just beautiful." Shira smiled.

"Well I didn't do it all on my own mom," he said, hinting at her.

Shira looked at him and smiled apologetically. "Rory, she's just perfect. Aren't we lucky Mitchum? Now we have two beautiful granddaughters" she said as she rubbed noses with Lily.

"Well, that was a turn up for the books huh," Logan said to Rory as he walked her out to her car.

"It certainly was!" Rory said, carefully taking a sleeping Lily out of Logan's arms and popping her into her car seat in the back of the car.

"I never expected my mom to be won over so quickly" he laughed.

"Lily kind of does that to people".

"She sure does" Logan smiled "Thanks for coming tonight, Rory. I know it wasn't easy but it meant a lot to me that you came".

"Sure" Rory returned his smile. She leaned across and put her arms around Logan, giving him a brief hug. Surprised, he put his arm around her and returned the hug. She had no idea why she had felt the need to do it, but she had just felt so proud of him and the way he had handled the situation.

Rory pulled away from the hug, feeling slightly embarrassed and looked at him, his arm still holding her. "I'm sorry" she started to say "I didn't mean to…." She stopped, feeling the tension between them.

Logan looked at Rory. He'd never felt more like he wanted to kiss her than he did in that moment. Their faces edged towards each other and Rory closed her eyes in anticipation of Logan's lips meeting hers.

Just as their lips touched for the briefest of seconds, they were interrupted by the sound of a cell phone beeping in Rory's bag. They both pulled back quickly.

Logan rubbed his hand through his hair "Okay" he said opening the car door for Rory. "So…..goodnight."

"Goodnight," Rory said quietly, not quite looking at Logan, suddenly aware of what had almost happened.